New Delhi: A committee appointed by the Supreme Court under Justice Indu Malhotra has indicted Ferozepur SSP Harmandeep Singh Hans for serious lapses in duty which resulted in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy getting stranded over a flyover in Punjab amid hostile groups.
“Harmandeep Singh Hans, then SSP Ferozepur, failed to discharge his responsibilities to maintain law and order. He did not take steps for deployment to strengthen the route in Ferozepur even though he was fully aware there were large hostile groups who had come to block the route of the carcade,” former CJI N V Ramana read out from the report.
The report emphasises that the SSP failed to act despite having been asked to strengthen the security for the PM on the contingency route the PM was going to take because of bad weather which prevented his helicopter from taking off. “Hans failed to augment and strengthen the route in Ferozepur even though there were sufficient forces available with him. There was sufficient time available with him when (ADGP) G Nageswara Rao informed Hans about the PM taking the contingency route and that the route should be adequately strengthened.”
“Despite clear instructions from Rao, at least two hours before the PM entered Ferozepur, the SSP failed to act on the instructions of Rao,” the Committee said. The finding repudiates the stand of the Punjab government that the PM’s cavalcade was stranded, an unprecedented instance and a security nightmare considering the “very high” risk perception for Modi, police did not get time to make arrangements on the “contingency route”.
The report of Justice Malhotra ( retd) delved deep into lapses on the part of Hans which seriously jeopardised the PM’s security. The bench said Justice Malhotra committee has also given recommendations for strengthening and improving the security mechanism for the PM and VVIPs as detailed in the “Blue Book’, which is issued by the home ministry.
According to the ‘Blue Book’, the Special Protection Group must convene an Advance Security Liaison three days before each visit by the prime minister, with everyone engaged in protecting the event, including Intelligence Bureau authorities in the concerned state, state police officers, and the pertinent district magistrate. The committee also suggested regular refresher and sensitization courses for training police officers concerned with the security measures of the PM and the VVIPs mentioned in the ‘Blue book’ and improved coordination with advanced planning for VVIP visits by security agencies.
